Defenders of Evodusai Part 2
Running through the forest clearing upon all fours was just...exhilarating. The scent of freshly crushed grass upon my paws while taking in the rush of air blowing across my face all felt so natural. Eyes dilating, I knew that my senses were much sharper due to my body's new instincts. Reaching the bush where Truce and Liru disappeared into, I dove over the tangled mess of leaves and branches before landing on top of something soft and warm. A cry of shock escaped from underneath me. "What the- GET OFF!" they screamed while landing a painful blow onto my chest. Winded from the attack, I clutched the area that was hit and rolled off of them with a grunt. Looking up I saw a feisty feline with black and brown fur standing close by, brushing the dust off of himself and giving me a threatening glare. Staggering onto my feet, the lion-like pokemon tensed up and jumped back, giving off a growl that was flat out adorable. Moving my arms up, I tried my best to look non-threatening. "Woah, wait a minute," I cried out defensively. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall on top of you. I heard a scream coming from the area and thought somebody might need some help." My words seemed to work since his muscles started to relax a little. He looked me up and down, gave me a nod, and grumbled, "Alright, you don't look like you're with them. Come with me." Before I could ask who he was referring to, a primal roar blasted out from behind us. "Hurry, before they catch up to us," he whispered before taking off. Following closely behind, I noticed him taking multiple glances behind him. "What are we running from," I huffed, out of breath. He gave me a puzzling look and stopped for me to catch my breath. "Don't you know where we are?" he asked. When I shook my head, he groaned and placed a paw on his face. "This is Genko Forest, one of many mystery dungeons spread across the land." Upon seeing my clueless face, the lion cub sighed and muttered something under his breath before continuing. "Mystery dungeons are dangerous because these areas are always changing. The pokemon who live in these areas are negatively affected by this, becoming hostile at every trespasser intruding upon their territory. I was just running away from some of these feral beings until you came along and tackled me from out of nowhere." "Well if you already knew it was dangerous here," I stated with my arms crossed, "Why'd you come here in the first place? From the way you were talking, it's obvious that you're not from around these parts." Before I could get an answer from him, a large bull broke through the bushes and charged at us. I almost got hit trying to jump out of its way. "Dang it, I can't believe that tauros managed to find me," the lion shouted. "Hey char girl, how good can you fight?" Dodging another charge from the frenzied bull, I couldn't give an answer. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as my pupils dilated again. This situation became a fight for a survival when that bull prepared to charge at me yet again. Something clicked inside my head, telling me that I can beat this. A small ball of flame coming from the lion pelted the side of the bull's hide, distracting him away from my own counter-attack. Digging down deep into my gut, I could feel the raw potential just waiting to well up and explode. The tauros shook the blow off and turned towards the source of the flame, making a face that could scare even ghost pokemon away. The once confident lion was now physically frozen in fear from seeing such a horrific face. Nose flaring into a couple of snorts, the bull roared with rage and charged, only this time there was a dangerous glint coming from its horns. I ran at the frozen feline and pushed him out of the way. Turning to face the out of control bull, I released everything I had within me and felt a huge funnel of flame erupt from my maw. Seeing and feeling such an intense bout of flame was both amazing and frightening at the same time. When the fire started to die down, I was left shaking a bit with a couple tears flowing down my cheeks. Falling onto my knees, I looked over to find the tauros knocked out against a tree with scorch marks all over their body
"Jeez, that was a nice shot," the lion gasped. Padding over to me, he placed a paw on my shoulder and gave me a few victory pats. Some rustling of the leaves behind us startled us and we jumped back to prepare for more enemies. The sight of a zangoose slashing through the brush was pure relief. Seeing him shifting his eyes between me and the tauros made me a bit nervous, but that soon dissolved when he gave a toothy grin. "Liru, guess what I just found," Truce turned and shouted. Emerging from the sliced up wilderness came the blue gator followed by a shinx. "That litleo... Isn't that the prince?" gasped Liru. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Don't you know that your parents have been worried sick over your disappearance?" When that shinx appeared, the fire in the litleo's eyes burned out. A tiny whimper escaped his throat and his gaze was aimed towards the ground. The shinx trotted slowly to the depressed lion, giving him a couple of friendly licks across his red mohawk. "I'm sorry for dragging you through all this, Lilly," he apologized. "I was consumed with revenge over what they did to you that I sort of lost track of everything." Truce stepped up and coughed to get the litleo's attention. "One of our other teams already apprehended the outlaws that you seek. Let's get the both of you home first before talking any further." Clutching something in his right paw, he held it up into the sky. A beam of blinding light flashed for a couple seconds before dissipating. Where the shinx and litleo once stood was nothing but air. "Now what should we do about you?" Truce pondered with a smile on his face. "Not only did you save us the trouble of searching for the prince but you've also taken out Rampaging Rydro, a D-ranked outlaw who was only one crime away from becoming a C-ranked criminal." Judging from the tone of his voice, I shuffled back a bit in defense but was instantly grabbed by the quick moving pokemon. Moving in close to my face, I could smell his putrid breath as he whispered, "Don't you know who we are?"